Yuletide Twins

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“She was a teacher, too,” Zeb said, then turned his attention back to sketching.

“I’m not a teacher yet.” She’d talked to Zeb about her dream to become a teacher, as well as how she’d had to put that plan on hold until she had her babies and until schools were willing to hire her.

Zeb completed the boxcar—which looked amazing—and began to draw the children from the book cover. Laura didn’t really need the children drawn, since she was only planning to design a big boxcar prop, but he was doing such an incredible job that she didn’t want to stop him. “You know,” he said, “the way I see it, teaching doesn’t have to occur inside school walls.” He pointed to the book. “Sounds like you’re already working toward encouraging some of the kids around here to increase their joy of reading. That’s teaching, any way you look at it.”

Laura smiled. She had felt good about the responses they’d already received for the book club. “I guess it is.” Several of Kaden’s friends had signed up, and she anticipated adding more tonight if she got this display done and could advertise it properly for the First Friday event. “I’ve decided to hold the Boxcar Book Club gathering each Monday after school. I thought that’d be a good way to start each child’s week, and I’m planning to bring in some of the activities from the book to make it more interactive.”

“Dolly did the same thing, tried to give the kids more hands-on activities when they were learning. She said it helped them retain what they learned if they had an action associated with it.” He put down the pencil and turned the page toward Laura. “I think she’d have liked this. Do you?”

The detail of the boxcar, as well as the four children, was astounding. “It’s incredible.”

“Okay, so to create this to scale, I believe you’ll need six pieces of craft board, the thickest kind they sell. You’ll also need to fix this door so it opens, because they’ll probably want to go inside of it, don’t you think?”

Laura nodded. “That’s what I wanted.”

He ran tiny dashes around the drawing to show how he believed the boards should be assembled. “Then all you’ll need is some wood stands to hold it in place. I’m pretty sure David can get wood for you out of some of those crates that are always stacked behind the stores.”

He handed her the sketch pad. “Take it over to Scraps and Crafts. It’s straight across the square—you can’t miss it. Diane Marsh owns the place and will be able to tell you exactly what you need to build a boxcar prop for the kids.” He lifted a finger. “Her grandson is about Kaden’s age. Have you got an Andy Marsh on your list of kids signed up?”

Laura remembered the name. “Yes, I do.”

“Chances are, Diane will donate the materials if she knows it’ll help Andy enjoy his reading. She’s talked to me about that before, wanting him to learn to like books.”

“I’m pretty sure it was his grandmother who called and signed him up,” she said.

Zeb grinned. “Sounds like Diane. She loves those grandchildren. The other ones are older, teens I think. If you start something for teens, she’ll probably sign them up, too.”

Laura had been thinking the same thing, that if this book club was a success, she could start more. “I hope to do just that.”

He pushed up from the chair and picked up the two books. Glancing at his watch, he said, “I’d go with you to see Diane, but I’m supposed to be at the hospital in a half hour so I’d better go.”

“The hospital?”

“I read to the kids on the children’s floor a couple of days each week during their lunch.” He turned the books so Laura could see the titles, Daniel and the Lion’s Den and The Story of Moses. “Picked a couple of Bible stories for today.”

Laura’s heart moved the way it did every time she heard about one of Zeb’s regular activities. She’d never met anyone like him. “That’s wonderful, Zeb. I’m sure they love having you read to them.”

He leaned one of the books toward Laura and said, “You should go with me sometime, and David, too. I’ve got to tell you, they do way more for me than I do for them. Makes you really understand what Christ meant when He said it’s more blessed to give than to receive, you know?”

Laura nodded. She did know, and yet that made her current situation all the more painful. David had asked her to go to his midweek Bible study on Wednesday at the Claremont Community Church, and she’d declined. And Mandy had invited her to a ladies’ Bible study that she was hosting last night, and again, she’d declined. Now Zeb was reminding her subtly that...she missed church. But she’d so blatantly turned her back on God that she wasn’t certain He’d want her. And she didn’t know whether she could handle the guilt of entering a church and being surrounded by all of the people who “got it right.”

Zeb had turned his attention to the two children’s books in his hand and didn’t notice Laura’s discomposure. Instead, he flipped through the pages and smiled. “These illustrations are beautiful. The kids will love them.” He moved toward the counter. “I’ll leave the money over here so you don’t have to get up.”

“Don’t leave any money, Mr. Zeb. David doesn’t want you to pay, and neither do I. And I’m getting up anyway.” She maneuvered her way out of the chair, then winced when one of the babies apparently kicked her for disturbing her sleep. “Whoa.”

He quickly turned from the counter. “You okay?”

“Yes,” she said, gritting her teeth as another kick matched the first, then exhaling when the twins finally settled down. “I’m fine. One of them is apparently attempting to teach the other one karate,” she said with a laugh. “But I’m not taking your money.”

He frowned. “I told you not to get up.”

“I’m going to the craft store as soon as David gets back from the post office, so I needed to get up anyway. And I want to walk you to the door.” She gently steered him farther away from the checkout counter and toward the door.

“You’re just trying to keep me from paying.”

“And I’m doing a pretty good job of it, too, aren’t I?” She smiled, gave him a hug and then opened the door for him to leave.

“One of these days I’m going to repay you,” he said.

“You can repay me by letting me go with you to visit those kids one day. That sounds like a teacher’s dream.”

He smiled. “It is. You have a blessed day, Miss Laura.”

“You, too.”

Zeb exited, leaving Laura alone in the bookstore. That was something she’d noticed this week more than anything else; it was almost always empty. In the four days she’d been working, Laura had learned how to collect used books and log the credits in the computer, how to shelve the titles according to genre and author, how to select which books would appeal to readers in the various reading nooks and how to guide customers in their purchases. All of that could be considered part of her job description, but it wasn’t the most important thing she learned during her first week on the job.

She learned David wasn’t making any money.

Throughout the week, they’d received several bags of used books from customers who typically swapped out for other books during the same shopping trip. Then they had a few who came in and visited, browsed titles and perhaps even sat in a reading nook to peruse a book for a while before they placed it back on the shelf. Hence, no revenue. And while David did offer a few new books for purchase, the majority of the store was composed of trade-ins, and most of his sales were for credit. Or, in the case of Zeb Shackleford, free.

Laura didn’t mind David giving so many books to the precious older man, but she didn’t understand how he could continue running this business with virtually no income. And then this morning he’d given her a paycheck for her first week of employment, and he’d paid her well. Nothing excessive, but more than she’d expected considering the fact that he let her rest whenever she needed, let her go to her doctor’s appointment yesterday and told her she could arrive late and leave early if she felt weary from the pregnancy.

But with the lack of customers and income that Laura had seen this week, she had no doubt David wasn’t making enough money to support the store, much less to pay Laura as though everything were a-okay, hunky-dory.

And something else that wasn’t a-okay or hunky-dory was the fact that her good-looking and nice guy of a boss was undeniably single. She’d paid attention throughout the week; he never texted, didn’t phone anyone for quiet conversations, and even though several pretty ladies had stopped by the store over the past few days, he’d offered nothing more than a friendly smile. No flirting. No invitations for dinner or even coffee. And Laura got the impression that at least a couple of the twentysomething females had stopped by specifically to see the dashing owner and maybe even find themselves on the receiving end of his attention.

But David didn’t appear to even notice he had a following. Then again, Laura had never actually realized how cute he was until this week. Maybe it was the pregnancy hormones kicking in. Or maybe he’d always been attractive, and she’d been too absorbed in Jared to notice. But in any case, he hadn’t seemed the least bit interested in any of the single ladies of Claremont, which was a problem. A big one. Because Laura needed him to be interested in someone else. That would control this ridiculous notion that he might be interested in the very pregnant friend working in his shop. And it would also control her bizarre impulse to return the interest. Ever since their heart-to-heart Monday night, when he talked to her about loving and losing Mia, she’d felt even closer to David. And she wasn’t ready for a relationship, at all.

Merely thinking about that day when she realized that she was pregnant and when Jared practically demanded that she end the pregnancy caused Laura’s stomach to pitch. She’d jumped into that relationship headfirst and had been undeniably stupid. She wouldn’t make that mistake again. Oh, no, it would be a long time before she handed her heart over. But when she did, she knew what she wanted. A guy who was honest. A guy who was faithful. A guy who loved her completely—no one else, just Laura—and a guy who she loved the very same way.

She flinched as an image of David carrying her luggage up the stairs overtook her thoughts. David, giving her a job. David, holding her hand to help her stand. That was the kind of guy she wanted next time, but she simply wasn’t ready for that yet. Not that it mattered. There was still the fact that she’d dated his friend, was having his babies, in fact. And the fact that she didn’t exactly look the part of a girl anyone would date, seven months pregnant and waddling. And, as far as David was concerned, she didn’t share his faith. Not anymore. She’d given up on God because she assumed He’d given up on her.

Plenty of reasons for David not to look at her beyond friendship. Which was good. Exactly what she wanted.

Really.

The bell on the front door rang, and Laura turned to see the object of her thoughts entering with a big brown box tucked under one arm. He wore a black cashmere sweater over a blue-and-white striped button-down shirt, well-worn jeans and black boots. He scanned the store. “No customers?”

She shook her head then tucked a wayward lock of hair behind her ear. In spite of all of the cute maternity clothes her mother had bought her for the pregnancy, she never felt like she looked half as good as he did. Because right now, he looked very good. She stopped herself from attempting to check her reflection in the nearest window and tried to control the nervousness that had started occurring whenever her boss came around. “It’s been a slow hour,” she said. Truthfully, it’d been a slow week, but she wouldn’t point out the obvious.

“That’s okay. It’ll give us time to check out what we got in the mail.” A dark wave of brown hair shifted to cover one eye as he nudged the door shut with his shoulder. He jerked his head to the side to toss it back into place. Laura liked the way he managed to dress neat but also look rumpled, like he’d taken in a game of Frisbee on the square on his way to the post office. In college, he’d often played ultimate Frisbee with Jared and several of the other guys they hung around. Even though David gave the appearance of being Mr. Studious, he’d surprised everyone with his athleticism and competitiveness on the quad. Laura had thought it funny that he’d turned out to be the superb athlete in the bunch, something Jared and the gang hadn’t expected.

Funny...and impressive.

She shook the memory of David running and diving for those soaring discs and told herself she would stop recalling anything about him that might be considered overly appealing. He was appealing enough without being an athlete, too. But this was a business relationship between friends. He’d given her a job and helped her find a place to stay, and he’d watched over her since she arrived in Claremont like any good friend would do. So this emotion that kept creeping in was gratitude. That was it, gratitude. And she had to keep reminding herself of that fact.

“The Boxcar books came in today. I got a case, forty-eight books. You really think we might have that many kids show up?”

Laura had asked him to get the books Tuesday morning, before she realized that the bookstore didn’t appear to hold its own moneywise. Now she feared if she didn’t have that many kids to purchase those books, she’d end up costing him more than she made. She swallowed. David had helped her too much for her to hurt his business, so she would make this work; she had to. “Sure we will,” she said, and did her best to sound upbeat, enthusiastic, excited even.

His smile said he bought it, and Laura breathed a sigh of relief. If David was right and the majority of the town showed up tonight for the First Friday event, she’d focus on finding kids to join that club...and selling their parents the book. David might not have had the time to figure out ways to make money for himself and his store, but Laura wasn’t about to work here and not offer some sort of appreciation for the deal. And her appreciation would come in the form of more customers for her boss.

“You do realize that there’s no way we could handle forty-eight kids in the children’s area at once. I’d say we couldn’t seat more than fifteen at the most,” he said.

Laura hadn’t thought about that, but he had a point. And if she sold all of those books, she’d need to make sure she had room for all of the kids. “What if we had the book club each day after school instead of only on Mondays?” She remembered what Zeb said about potentially starting a teen book club, too. “And if we did additional book clubs for teens or adults, we could put those later in the day.”

“You’re counting on this taking off, aren’t you?” he asked.

“I am,” she admitted. “It’d be a good thing for the store, wouldn’t it?”

“Definitely a good thing.” He picked up the list of kids who had already signed up for the book club. “Nine so far.” His mouth slid to the side as he silently read the names. “I know all of these kids, and some of them aren’t even close in age. Nathan and Autumn are both nine, maybe ten. And Kaden, Abi and Andy are all younger, six or seven, I’d say. Do you think we should divide them up by age?”

“That’s a good idea,” Laura said. “I’ll call the ones on the list, get the specific ages and let them know we’ll set up the book club so that each day of the week corresponds with a different age bracket. I think that’d be more enjoyable for the kids because that’d put them with their friends from school and most likely with those on the same reading level.”

“Except for kids like Kaden, who need a challenge,” David said, obviously remembering Mandy’s comment.

Laura laughed. She’d been around Mandy and her family a good bit this week because they were often in the gallery when she went to her apartment at night. Kaden was an adorable little boy, but he was one of the most inquisitive children she’d ever met. Laura now understood what his teacher meant by saying he needed a challenge. “I think Kaden could probably go with an older group of kids, as far as the reading level, but since they will be reading the books on their own and mainly talking about what they’ve read here, I think he’ll enjoy being with his own age, don’t you?”

“Yeah, I do,” David agreed. He looked at Laura, and his attention moved to her cheek, where that wayward lock of hair curled against her skin. Laura knew what he was about to do, so she could have quickly tucked the strands out of the way herself, but for some strange reason, she didn’t. Instead she held her breath as David tenderly slid his finger against her skin and eased the lock in place. “You’re going to be an excellent teacher.”

A tingle of something echoed from the point where his finger touched her skin, ricocheting through her senses and then settling in her chest. Laura didn’t know if the effect was from his compassionate touch or his earnest words. Or both.

Ready to get control of her emotions, she walked back to the children’s area and said, “Zeb came by while you were gone. Come see what he did for us.” She picked up the sketch pad from the table and turned it so David could see the drawing. “I’m going to make a boxcar to decorate the children’s reading nook. If we use this design, they could climb inside and pretend they’re on the actual boxcar while we talk about the story. We can use some of the beanbags and pillows already in the reading nook.”

Even before she looked to verify the fact, she knew that David had moved closer to look at the drawing. She could sense the warmth of his body next to hers, and she turned to see that his face—as she suspected—was mere inches from her own. A hint of cologne teased the air, and she fought the urge to inhale...or move closer.

“It sounds like a great idea,” he said. “Um, did Zeb mention how much he thought the materials would run?”

He couldn’t disguise the worry in his tone, and it reinforced Laura’s quest to make, rather than lose, money for his store. It also pulled her out of the uncomfortable moment of attraction that she was pretty sure only occurred on her side of this fence.

“He said since Diane Marsh’s grandson is one of the kids participating in the book club, she’d probably donate the craft board and other materials we might need. And he said he thought you could make the wooden stands to hold the boxcar from crates that are usually kept behind the store.”

The worry lines that’d shown on David’s forehead as he’d looked at the drawing disappeared as his face slid into a grin. “Leave it to Zeb to get it all worked out. Zeb and you, I mean. This is a great idea, and if Diane will donate the materials, that’d make it even better.”

“I’ll go see her right now,” Laura said. “I’d like to have it ready for First Friday.”

David looked at the circular clock above the entrance showing straight-up noon. “You realize that’s only six hours from now, right?”

“Then I’d better get busy.” Laughing, she grabbed her purse and turned to leave, but then stopped when her cell started ringing the song “Daddy’s Hands.” “Hang on, that’s my dad.” Her father taught middle school history, and even though he was probably on his lunch break, she knew he never made personal calls from the school. She answered. “Daddy? Anything wrong?”

He exhaled thickly over the line. “Laura, I hate to bother you, and I sure don’t want to worry you, but I need to ask...have you heard from your mother today?”

Laura had called her parents each night this week to let them know how things were going at the bookstore, how she was settling in, and then yesterday how the appointment with the new doctor had gone. But she hadn’t heard from her mother since she hung up the phone with them last night. “I haven’t. Did she leave again?”

“I don’t know what’s going on, hon, but it’s been so much worse this year, since this summer. She isn’t happy, and I honestly don’t know what to do anymore. She wanted to go on that cruise in August, before I had to start back at the school, and I took her, but that still didn’t help. And she wanted to go on regular dates, and we’ve been doing that, or trying to—she’s been working more hours at the mall, you know.” He sounded miserable, the way he always sounded whenever her mother did another round of leaving to “find herself.”

“She isn’t answering her cell?”

“Goes straight to voice mail. She must have it turned off.”

“Was she supposed to work today?” Laura asked.

“She was, but Nan, the store manager, called me to see where she was this morning when she didn’t show up at the store. I was afraid she’d had an accident or something, since she’s never late for work, and I started trying to call her cell. And like I said, it went straight to voice mail. But I just called Nan back to see if she ever heard from her, and she said that your mother called in and said she was taking a personal day.” He paused. “She’d assumed your mother would’ve called and told me.”

“Of course she did,” Laura said. Because that’s what a normal wife would do. But something was different this time, because regardless of how many times Marjorie Holland had left without warning, she always planned her disappearances on her days off. She could leave Laura’s father and Laura without any explanation whatsoever, but she would never miss a day of work and risk someone else taking her sales.

“I’ll try calling her, but I’m sure you’re right,” Laura said. “If she doesn’t want to talk to us, she won’t.”

“I know, dear. But, well, if you hear from her, will you call me, text me, whatever is more convenient? I just want to know that she’s okay.”

“I will, Daddy.” She disconnected then immediately dialed her mother. Sure enough, it went straight to voice mail.

“She left again?” David asked.

Laura dropped the cell in her purse. “I don’t know how he does it, goes through this over and over without any rhyme or reason to why she acts the way she does.” For years, especially when she was younger, Laura would cry whenever her mother mysteriously disappeared. But those tears were done. Crying never helped, and Laura wasn’t going to let her mother upset her now. It wasn’t good for the babies if Laura was stressed, so she would not get stressed.

“You want to talk about it?” David asked, the concern in his voice evident.

She’d talked to David about her mother’s peculiar behavior a few times when they were at UT, but she didn’t want to spend their time today analyzing the mystery that was Marjorie Holland. “Nope. I want to go buy what we need to build a boxcar. Or rather, have it all donated to the cause.”

He spotted a book out of order on a shelf, withdrew it and then began running his finger along the spines to find the correct spot. “Okay,” he said, “but get some lunch while you’re out. I don’t want you forgetting to eat because you’re trying to finish that boxcar.”

“Don’t worry.” She pointed to her stomach. “They don’t let me forget.”